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Bertie/Behind the Scenes
Background Information The Railway Series Bertie is a fictional red bus who works on Thomas' Branch Line. He is owned by Sodor Roadways. Bertie created by the Rev. W. Awdry. He first appeared in The Railway Series book, Tank Engine Thomas Again, which was published in 1949. His last appearance was in More About Thomas the Tank Engine, published in 1986. Front of Bertie: File:BertieRWS.png|1948 Bertie as illustrated by C. Reginald Dalby (1949) File:BertieRWS2.png|1980 Bertie as illustrated by Edgar Hodges (1980) File:BertieillustratedbyDavidPalmer.png|1985 Bertie as illustrated by David Palmer (1985) File:BertieillustratedbyCliveSpong.png|1985 Bertie as illustrated by Clive Spong (1986) File:BertieillustratedbyStephenLings.png|1992 Bertie as illustrated by Stephen Lings (1992) Rear of Bertie: File:BertieillustratedbyCReginaldDalby.png|1952 Bertie as illustrated by C. Reginald Dalby (1954) File:BertieillustratedbyCliveSpong2.png|1985 Bertie as illustrated by Clive Spong (1986) Bertie is based on a AEC Regal "T Class" London Country Area bus. Television Series Bertie first appeared in the television series in 1984, reprising his roles from the Railway Series. He is one of the most iconic non-rail characters in the series, and up until his absence in the twenty-second series, he was the only non-rail character to appear in every season of the television series. Bertie was originally voiced by Rupert Degas in both the UK and US English dubs of the television series from the fifteenth and sixteenth series of the television series (following Kevin Frank in Thomas and the Magic Railroad). After Degas left the series in 2012, Keith Wickham took over the role of Bertie and has continued to voice the character since. All three voice Bertie with a standard Brtish accent. Television Series Regular model Bertie’s model was custom built from perspex for the first series. The model was built to run on Styrofoam road and was painted in glossy car body paint. Nine different facial expressions were known to have been made for Bertie, with only eight worn on-screen. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould. A radiator was attached to each of Bertie's facemasks. For unknown reasons the top corners of the radiator on Bertie's sad and tired facemasks were curved on instead of slanted like the rest of his facemasks. One of Bertie’s faces is now owned by twitter user ThomasTankMerch. File:ThomasandBertie71.png|Bertie's smiling face, which first appeared in the first series... (1984) File:Edward,TrevorandtheReallyUsefulParty25.png|...then later gained teeth in the third series onwards. (1991-2008) File:Bertie'sChase13.PNG|Bertie's tired face that only appeared in both the second and third series. (1986, 1991-1992) File:Bertie'sModelSpecificatiion.PNG File:TheThomastheTankEngineMan(Bookmarkdocumentary)22.png File:Bertie'sFacemasks.png|Bertie's complete face mask set during production of the sixth series (2002) Bertie's unused disgusted face on the top right File:BertieFaceMaskHappy.jpeg|Bertie's happy face mask (Courtesy of ThomasTankMerch) File:Bertie'sFacemask.jpg|Bertie's sad face mask, during the production of the second series (1986) File:Bertie'sSeries2Facemasks.png|Bertie's happy and surprised face masks, during the production of the second series (1986) The twelfth series marked the beginning of the show's transition into CGI and the characters' faces were animated through CGI with the aid of motion capture animation. The physical models' molded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production. Bertie's resin faces were only used in background shots. File:Rosie'sFunfairSpecial30.png File:Rosie'sFunfairSpecial34.png File:SavedYou!72.png Bertie has had modifications throughout the model era. These include: * Series 3: ** He gains eyebrows. ** The black lining on his door disappeared. ** His driver's door handle disappeared. * Series 7: ** Bertie's eyes now move when he is stationary as the moving eyes from one of the other characters were edited into the shot. * Series 8: ** Bertie now has Caroline's horn sound. Close-up model Close-up shots of Bertie was required for scenes where he had to interact with close-up scale figures. It appeared in the episode, Seeing the Sights, the Learning Segment, Who Can Take Them? and the special, The Great Discovery. File:SeeingtheSights31.png File:WhoCanTakeThem14.png File:Navigation5.png File:TheGreatDiscovery537.png CGI model In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Bertie was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios. His model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software. Photographs of Bertie's Gauge 1 model were used for referencing. According to Greg Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval. Bertie has had modifications throughout the CGI series. These include: * Series 13: ** His radiator was missing. ** His face became longer. * Series 14: ** His radiator returned. * Series 19: ** His windows became glazed/tinted so his driver's face could no longer be seen. * Series 23: ** He gains his CRD 54 license plate from the Railway Series. ** He gains rearview wing mirrors. ** He gains a bar across his front window and some of his side windows. ** His front window gains a windshield wiper. ** He gains rivets on his front end and beneath his right lamp. ** He gains ridges along his body. ** His front-right door gains a handle. ** His black stripes and lining on his door disappeared. ** His blinker is coloured gold. ** His driver-side door is no longer painted on. File:DoubleTrouble51.png File:CharlieandEddie34.png File:StopthatBus!106.png File:FreetheRoads17.png File:FreetheRoads18.png File:FreetheRoads19.png Voice Actors * Kevin Frank * Rupert Degas * Keith Wickham * Hikaru Midorikawa * Takafumi Kawakami * Mitsuhiro Sakamaki * Santiago Ziesmer * Gerhart Hinze * Rainer Schmitt * Helgo Liebig * Michael von Rospatt * Sigbjørn Solheim * Øyvind Borgemoen Lyse * Krystyna Kozanecka * Elżbieta Kijowska * Roberto Carrillo * Jorge Roig Jr. * Edson Matus * Reinder van der Naalt * Hadar Shachaf Ma'ayan * Yehonatan Magon * Dor Srugo * Guilherme Briggs * Petteri Hynönen * Petrus Kähkönen * Denis Bespaliy Category:Behind the Scenes Category:Images of Bertie Category:Images from behind the scenes